I was out looking for interesting products as I often do and I happened upon an item at Sam’s Club that made me do a double take. Ecolab Proforce Reusable Foodservice Towels was the item that stopped me mid aisle. The first thought that came to my mind was oh boy I bet this is something paper towel manufacturers are trying to keep off mainstream store shelves.
The reusable foodservice towels as they are called were in the cleaning products aisle at Sam’s Club in the industrial cleaning section. Interestingly they were not the area with the products aimed at consumers. These towels come 25 in a pack for $6.99 are reusable and machine washable. They are made of non-woven cotton.
Can you imagine if these caught on? What am impact they would have on reducing waste and putting a dent in the disposable paper products market. Wow. I was excited for a couple reasons. First off the price. Secondly they actually look and feel like a heavy duty paper towel.
Judging by the way many consumers in this country react to “greener” products I thought these actually looked like something people wouldn’t immediately label as “green” and therefore steer clean of. These towels look like highly functional heavy duty paper towels. I think they could work mainstream.
Are they the ideal option? No. But lets face it disposable paper products are an environmental disaster. If by some amazing series of events these actually started to gain market share in the U.S. and were sold as a mainstream product, the impact they would have would be amazing.